Almost four months after Venezuela's government-friendly Supreme Court (TSJ) ratified Nicolás Maduro's victory over Edmundo González Urrutia during the July presidential elections, the U.S. is stepping up its support for the opposition, calling Edmundo González Urrutia the president-elect of the Caribbean country. Venezuelan presidential race fair and square.
Ever since Maduro held on to power, the Venezuelan government has further cracked down on dissent, with González fleeing Venezuela for Spain after receiving threats. Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader who was banned from running by the Supreme Court, has been in hiding for months.
González fled to Spain saying he was only allowed to leave after being coerced into signing a letter that recognized Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the elections. But despite the threats, González believes he won the popular vote, so does the United States.
"I obtained the support of nearly 8 million Venezuelans who elected me on July 28," González said from Galicia, Spain, after speaking at a democracy convention. "I am going on January 10 to be sworn in as Venezuela's president elect."
Now, according to Bloomberg, the Biden administration is also beginning to call González as Venezuela's legitimate president-elect.
According to the news outlet, a senior administration official said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told other heads of state and partners about the U.S.'s decision during the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Although the United States as well as other countries around the globe have previously concluded that González had more votes than Maduro, the Biden administration had not gone as fa as considering González as the "president-elect" until now.
The official said that the plan behind it is to increase pressure on Maduro, who is expected to be sworn in again on Jan. 10 of next year despite the González movement asserting in multiple occasions that the opposition's candidate won almost 70 percent of the vote.
Venezuela still holds hundreds of political prisoners
A large portion of the international community has also rejected the government's victory claim, emphasizing on the lack of supporting documentation. However, Maduro and his allies have doubled down, clamping down on protests and going after opposition leaders through legal officials.
The Venezuelan authoritarian government arrested roughly 2,000 people following the disputed presidential elections in July 28 in postelection raids.
According to Foro Penal, a local watchdog group, 2,061 protesters, opposition activists bystanders and even minors have been arrested by authorities in 2024 and, as of Nov. 11, 1,976 of them remain behind bars.
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